Maya Runs Away
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: She had everything she had ever wanted, yes. But every single day she still woke up with a nagging fear that she would lose it all in an instant just like she had when she was a little girl. AU. Future fic. Joshaya-ish. Rated T.


**Maya Runs Away**

 **A Josh and Maya story**

 **By Brown Eyes Parker**

 **Rated: T**

 **Disclaimer: I own** _ **nothing**_ **.**

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Maya Hart had everything she had always wanted. A father figure in the form of Shawn Hunter, a degree to teach middle school art, a job teaching art at her old school, her childhood best friend and the man of adolescent dreams, Joshua Matthews.

She had everything she had ever wanted, yes.

But every single day she still woke up with a nagging fear that she would lose it all in an instant just like she had when she was a little girl.

So, she did the only thing any person in her position would do.

She walked away from it all.

From her parents.

From her teaching job.

From her childhood best friend.

From the man of her adolescent dreams.

Especially from the man of her dreams. She wanted to leave him before he left her.

She left it all behind and went to Italy under the pretense of studying art. Nobody, not even Riley Matthews-Friar, knew all she was really doing was running away.

Riley did the dutiful thing as her best friend party and threw her a going away party complete with Pavarotti playing in the background, curtains of sunflowers and tiramisu for dessert. And she cried while she clutched her expanding belly and tried to make her promise to come home in time for little Maya or Mayo's birth.

Maya didn't make any promises. She kept her mouth shut, hugged Riley and in spite of everything going on, hoped to God the Friars had a girl because there was no way that Mayo Friar would live his name down.

Josh took her to the airport early the next morning. He kissed her goodbye and promised to answer all her calls despite the time difference. He promised to pay the fee if she called him collect; Maya forced fake smiles and pretended it was all real. She pretended this was just a see you later, not another goodbye.

When he finally let her go and she started to make her way into the airport, she didn't look back. She knew if she did, she would find him watching her and it would be impossible for her to leave. But the staying is harder than the leaving ever would be.

So, she went.

.

The restlessness kicked in the first time she ignored one of his calls. It increased by leaps and bounds. It increased with every unanswered letter that he wrote and every Skype session she declined.

One particularly hard night, when she missed Josh so much it hurt to breathe, she kissed somebody else. A not so gorgeous Italian who tasted like cheap Limoncello and cigars. She knew he wanted more but she ran away before it could escalate further, her whole body quivering with guilt.

Maya wanted out of Italy on the next available flight but she stayed put, a captive in her self-made exile. The beauty and romance of Italy is her punishment. With her life as messy as it was, she wasn't able to enjoy it at all.

.

One day, when she was sketching in a local field, she was interrupted by one of the town's local beauties.

In stilted English, she admired Maya's painting and the commissioned her to paint her portrait. Refusal was on the tip of her tongue; part of her separation from her self-imposed banishment from life was to live as a recluse. But she was running out of funds and without any money, she would have no choice but to go back to the United States and start all over again for a third time.

So, she agreed but not before implementing a strong list of rules neither her or Alessandra were allowed to break. Instead of agreeing to her requirements, Alessandra just laughed like she knew something that Maya didn't before giving her a time to come to her villa the next day.

.

"Maya, bello vedere il mio amore!" Alessandra greeted her cheerfully with a red lipstick kiss the next day. "Good to see you my love!"

"Ciao," Maya answered in return, shifting her leather satchel higher up on her arm.

Alessandra stepped away from the door and waved her inside. "Come in, please! We do not have much time, my boyfriend Angelo will be home for an afternoon rest around 11 and I want this portrait to be, as you would say, a surprise for his birthday next month!"

"A month?" Maya asked.

"Lucky we ran into each other when we did, aye?" Alessandra replied as she disappeared into her bedroom.

"It would have been luckier if we ran into each other sooner," Maya called.

Alessandra shrugged and fastened a rope of faux sapphires around her neck as she came back out to the hallway. "Oh well, è quello che è. It is what it is, is it not? Come along, I know a place where the lighting is perfect!"

She hadn't lost herself just to be found again.

.

Maya finished sketching Alessandra in a record amount of time and was thankful for the excuse not to see her every single day anymore. She told her that she needed time to fix any mistakes she had made before presenting it to Angelo at his birthday party.

Alessandra happily gave her the mornings off but every day at 11am, she would call Maya and demand her presence for lunch or for a fabulous shopping trip in one of the larger cities where she would ply her with ice cream and nice dresses because she had inherited a small fortune from her parents when they had passed away.

Despite her best efforts, Maya was powerless to say no to her because Alessandra was just a more sophisticated, glamorous version of Riley. They shared the same qualities though, the same star struck view of the world.

And even though she wouldn't admit it to anybody, not even her new friend, she missed that about Riley.

.

One stormy afternoon when she was helping put the finishing touches on Angelo's birthday dinner, they got into a huge argument. They were in the middle of yelling at each other but Maya couldn't even remember what they were fighting for.

Right when Maya was sure Alessandra was going to kick her out, understanding dawned on the other girl's face and she rattled something off in Italian, a look of sympathy and love on her face as she put her arms around her and held on tight.

"il mia amore, non tutti quelli che ami sta per lasciare!" She kept saying as she ran her hands over Maya's growing blonde hair. "My love, not everyone you love is going to leave you," Alessandra whispered in English.

The fight was forgotten then and quickly forgiven; they got back to working on stringing up white lights all around the villa.

"Who is he, Maya?" Alessandra asked cautiously.

"Who's who?" Maya asked, feeling shaky and not at all like herself in that current moment.

"Il ragazzo che ha rotto il tuo cuore," Alessandra answered, falling into Italian out of habit. "The boy who broke your heart."

"Non rompere il mio cuore, credo che ho rotto il suo," Maya admitted. "He didn't break my heart, I think I broke his."

"His name?" Alessandra asked softly. "Do not worry, I am not going to look him up or calling him to come and get you, if that's what you are worried about."

"Josh. His name's Josh."

"You miss him!" It was an observation, not a question.

"Yes, more than anything," Maya answered. "Penso che sia il mio battito cardiaco. I think he is my heartbeat."

Alessandra smiled her schemer's smile and turned on her radio, swaying her hips enticingly and making Maya laugh despite herself.

.

"I hope you do not mind but I bought something for you," Alessandra said the night of Angelo's party.

"Me?" Maya asked in surprise. "But it isn't my birthday!"

"I know, I know! But you have been so sad since you got here, I couldn't resist!" Alessandra answered as she threw the heavy doors open.

Maya's erstwhile boyfriend was standing on the stone patio, a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand. "Maya. . ."

Maya turned to Alessandra and wordlessly shook her head. "How did you know?"

Alessandra shrugged. "I made an educated guess," she answered.

"You promised. . ."

"I lied," Alessandra answered. "I need to go and finish supper. The party guests will be arriving soon. The two of you, talk!"

She disappeared in a cloud of Chanel and grey satin, her red heels clicking on the wooden floor.

"I am so sorry it Alessandra inconvenienced you," Maya said, releasing a deep breath as she closed the doors behind him and leaned against them.

"It wasn't an inconvenience," Josh assured her. "I've missed you so much Maya. You didn't answer any of my texts or my calls."

"I was afraid. . ." Maya whispered.

"Afraid of what?" Josh asked, still keeping distance between them in case she didn't want him to touch her even though he so badly wanted to touch her.

"Everything was going so well. . . I was afraid that I would lose it all. Just like I did when I was a little girl."

"Oh Maya. . . you didn't really think. . . we're not your parents Maya, I'm not going to leave you the second things start going badly."

"How do you know?" Maya asked weakly.

"Because I'm here, aren't I? I'm here, right now. . . even when it was you who left me a few months ago. When you didn't answer my calls or texts, I wondered what I had done wrong. I wondered if you had found somebody new. . ."

"Never!" Maya said, looking up at him, their eyes really met for the first time. "Never Josh, I have loved you ever since I was a very little girl. You. . . you. . . tu sei il mio battito cardiaco! I would die without you. I am barely living as it is!"

This was all the invitation Josh needed; the distance between them was closed in an instant. He pulled her away from the door and wrapped his arms around her; she buried her face in his chest and tried not to cry.

"Oh Maya. . . Maya, I love you," he whispered, caressing her bare back and holding onto her as tight as he could.

"Ti amo anch'io," Maya answered, closing her eyes as his mouth found her's. "I love you too."

"Will you come home with me?" Josh asked, still holding onto her.

"Portami a casa," Maya replied, her voice thick with emotions. "Take me home, Josh."

.

Alessandra peeked out of her kitchen and smiled when she saw Maya and Josh holding onto each other like their lives depended on it. She knew as soon as he had accepted her invitation to come to Italy; he would be taking her friend away from her.

But she didn't mind.

Era destinato ad essere, she thought to herself. It was meant to be.

.

A few days later, Maya had packed up the few belongings she had taken with her and acquired in Italy. She had said her last goodbye to Alessandra and Angelo and invited them to visit in New York sometime.

They both readily agreed and gave her kisses for luck.

All that was left to do was load her suitcase into Josh's rental car and board a plane.

She waited for the fearful feelings that she had been trying to escape to attack her all over again. But they didn't.

She was ready to crossover.

 **_The End_**

 **.**

 **Author's Note:**

 **This has the possibility to be expanded and explored more, if people are interested because honestly, this story feels a little rushed and crammed. But I am posting it because I wanted to put some feelers out and see if anybody would be interested in reading a longer version of it.**

 **If not, I have other stories in mind for Josh & Maya. A few of them are actually light-hearted! A concept I have not really explored yet. Dear Readers, the choice is yours. Meanwhile, please tell me what you thought of this story!**

 **Until Next Time!**

 **Love,**

 **Holly, 7/23/2015_**


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